This chilli may not look beautiful but it is a quick and easy go to meal for us. It takes a little bit of planning because of the dried beans but it never puts me off and is such a rewarding, warming meal that I always make loads and eat it for lunch for the rest of the week. You can always replace the dried beans with tinned to speed things up.

I haven’t included quantities in the recipe as I’m sure whenever I make it I use different amounts depending on how I’m feeling and how spicy I want it. You can adjust this to taste and make up your own version.

Ingredients

Dried mixed beans (I use black eye beans, red kidney beans and cannellini beans but most mixes work much the same)

Onion

Celery

Garlic

Cumin

Paprika

Ground coriander

Chilli powder

Tinned tomatoes

Red wine vinegar

Mushrooms

Wild rice mix

Method

I think lots of people find the idea of cooking with dried beans daunting. They think it takes a long time and that you need lots of preparation. For this recipe, I just put the mixed beans in the slow cooker first thing in the morning on a low heat with plenty of water. By the time we get home they are cooked perfectly and ready for us to make dinner. Easy peasy.

Chop your onion, celery and garlic and fry in a saucepan with a little rapeseed oil. Once softened, add the spices and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes then add the tinned tomatoes and mushrooms. Drain the mixed beans and rinse with fresh water then add to the saucepan. Mix well and leave to simmer. Add red wine vinegar to taste if you like a sharper flavour to your chilli. The longer you leave it to simmer the more the flavours will develop so I sometimes leave this for an hour, but more often I’m hungry so it only gets around 20 minutes.

Boil some water and cook the rice for around 20 minutes.

Serve when ready with a sprinkle of cheese if you fancy.